Oak Ridge Today

Warrants: Claxton couple allegedly bought 20 grams of heroin per day for resale

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Timothy Duane Fritz

A husband and wife in Claxton allegedly told police officers during a narcotics-related search on Wednesday that they bought 20 grams of heroin per day for resale, and they had been selling the illegal drug for about six months, according to Anderson County court records.

Agents who searched the home on King Street with a warrant last week found a suspected fentanyl-heroin compound that weighed about 10 grams, according to court affidavits and Simon Byrne, director of the Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force.

The agents also found seven guns, suspected marijuana, drug paraphernalia that included baggies and scales, ammunition and magazines, and a large amount of cash, according to the affidavits, which were filed by CTF agent Perry Lewis.

The suspected heroin was in several bags, and it tested positive for a fentanyl compound, said the affidavits, which were filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge. The husband and wife, Timothy Duane Fritz, 48, and Atosha Leann Fritz, 41, said they got the heroin from an unknown man in Knoxville, according to Lewis.

The weapons found during the search on Wednesday included a Smith and Wesson 9mm handgun, a Lorcin .22-caliber handgun, an Anderson AR15 rifle, a Taurus Curve .380 handgun, a Smith and Wesson .22 revolver, a Colt Police Positive .38 handgun, and an Escort Magnum 12-gauge shotgun, the affidavits said.

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New federal designation means more law enforcement funding, full-time ATF agent

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Anderson-County-High-Intensity-Drug-Trafficking-Area-Press-Conference-Dec-17-2019
A new federal designation for Anderson County will mean more federal funding for the county’s drug and violent crime task force and a full-time agent from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark said Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2019. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

A new federal designation for Anderson County will mean more federal funding for the county’s drug and violent crime task force and a full-time agent from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

Anderson County is now a high-intensity drug trafficking area, or HIDTA. That designation came from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. It occurred in September and will go into effect January 1.

As part of a two-part announcement this month, law enforcement officials said the White House also selected the county’s task force, the Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force, as an Appalachia HIDTA, or AHIDTA. It’s the only locally led drug task force in Tennessee, according to Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark. The county’s Crime Task Force, or CTF, is led by Director Simon Byrne.

“No other drug task force in Tennessee has been awarded an AHIDTA grant,” Clark said. “I am very proud of our leadership team for thinking outside of the box and in looking for smart ways to make our communities safer as well as be good stewards of taxpayer dollars. We are more excited than we can convey, but in short believe that this development has the potential to be transformative as to what we are able to do in Anderson County to protect and serve our communities.”

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Anderson County man arrested after search allegedly finds meth, heroin

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Steven Arthur Seiber
Steven Arthur Seiber

An Anderson County man has been charged with five drug-related crimes after a search of a home near Rocky Top in February found large amounts of suspected methamphetamine, heroin, and other drugs.

Steven Arthur Seiber, 30, has been charged with manufacturing, delivering, or selling a Schedule II controlled substance: 300 grams or more of methamphetamine. That’s a Class A felony in Tennessee.

Affidavits, which include short narratives describing alleged crimes, said the Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force in Anderson County found about 18 bags (roughly 18 ounces) of suspected crystal methamphetamine in the master bedroom of a home on Andys Ridge Road during a search Wednesday night, February 13. (There are 28.35 grams per ounce.)

Agents also found about 21 bags (roughly 21 grams) of suspected heroin in the master bedroom, according to the affidavits, which were filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge by CTF Director Simon Byrne.

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Byrne named director of Crime Task Force

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Simon Byrne

Simon Byrne

 

The Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force has named a new director after the former director was elected Anderson County sheriff.

Russell Barker had previously been the director, but he was elected sheriff on August 2.

On Tuesday, Anderson County’s law enforcement leaders, acting as the Board of Directors of the Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force, named Simon Byrne as director, District Attorney General Dave Clark said. [Read more…]

DA: Thousands of pills seized during investigation of international drug sales

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Pictured above from left to right are Shelley Dawn Hicks Robbins, 44, of Anderson County; Moshin Agha, 30, of India; and Gene McKinley Miller, 43, of Anderson County. (Photo by Anderson County Sheriff's Department)

Pictured above from left to right are Shelley Dawn Hicks Robbins, 44, of Anderson County; Moshin Agha, 30, of India; and Gene McKinley Miller, 43, of Anderson County. (Photo by Anderson County Sheriff’s Department)

 

Thousands of pills were seized from a home in Anderson County during an investigation of prescription pills being shipped into the United States for distribution, possibly from Internet sales from international sources, authorities said Monday.

Three people have been indicted and arrested in the case. One was detained overseas this month, in the international airport in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, said Dave Clark, Seventh Judicial District attorney general.

The apprehension of Moshin Agha, 30, of India, was reported first by Oak Ridge Today on Monday. In a press release Monday afternoon, Clark said Agha, who had been entered into a national police database, was located at the international airport in Dubai sometime in the late evening of Friday, July 13, or early the next morning.

Agha’s co-defendants, Shelley Dawn Hicks Robbins, 44, and Gene McKinley Miller, 43, both of Anderson County, have already pleaded guilty in the case. [Read more…]

Defendant apprehended overseas after drug, money laundering indictment

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Moshin Agha

Moshin Agha

 

A defendant was apprehended overseas in Dubai after being indicted on drug and money laundering charges in Anderson County, according to court records.

Moshin Agha, 30, was picked up by authorities in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and then brought to the United States, according to a motion to increase bond and set bond conditions that was filed in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton on July 18. After being brought to the United States, Agha was turned over to state authorities in New York.

Agha, who has an address listed in India, waived extradition and is now in the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton, according to court and jail records. It’s not clear when he was apprehended in Dubai and brought to New York.

A writ of criminal capias that had been issued November 2, 2016, ordered Agha to be detained and brought to Anderson County. It was executed with Agha’s arrest by Simon Byrne, acting director of the Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force in Anderson County, on Wednesday, July 18. [Read more…]

Warrants: Woman admits residents made meth in Tusculum Drive apartment

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Kimberly Hughes Welch

Kimberly Hughes Welch

An Oak Ridge woman who lives at an apartment raided by police on Wednesday admitted that she and a man who also lives at the home were using methamphetamine laboratory components, including chemicals and pseudoephedrine powder, to make meth there, authorities said.

Besides the chemicals and pseudoephedrine, officers also found gas generators, hoses, and what they described as bi-layer liquids, according to arrest warrants. Police described those items as meth lab components. They were allegedly found inside Apartment C at 197 Tusculum Drive during a Wednesday evening search, according to the warrants, which were filed by Simon Byrne of the Seventh District Crime Task Force.

Raynell Fountaine Hopson

Raynell Fountaine Hopson

After she was read her Miranda rights, apartment resident Kimberly Welch, 48, told police that she and Raynell Hopson, 47, who also lives in the apartment, were using the equipment to make meth, Byrne said.

Welch and Hopson have each been charged with the initiation of meth manufacturing, possession of drug paraphernalia, and the manufacture/delivery/sale of Schedule II drugs.

The alleged meth lab was within 1,000 feet of La Petite Academy on Tulsa Road, a drug-free school zone, so there could be a school zone enhancement to the charges, which would be applied at sentencing if Welch or Hopson are convicted, said Russell Barker, director of the Seventh District Crime Task Force. [Read more…]

Police: Two bicyclists injured after running stop signs, hitting vehicles

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Two bicyclists, including a child, collided with vehicles after running stop signs in two separate incidents this weekend, and one of the riders was flown by medical helicopter to a Knoxville hospital, authorities said.

The first collision occurred at about 5 p.m. Saturday when Thomas M. Trosper, 44, of Oak Ridge, ran a stop sign on Latimer Road and struck the right front side of a 1995 Dodge van driven westbound on North Jefferson Circle, a crash report said. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge man remains jailed on attempted arson, aggravated assault charges

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John Devin Ingram

John Devin Ingram

An Oak Ridge man remained jailed on Sunday on charges of aggravated assault and attempted arson after he allegedly poured lighter fluid on his wife, their home, and another victim, and tried to start a truck on fire, authorities said.

John Ingram, 23, was arrested Monday morning. Authorities said he had allegedly poured lighter fluid on the interior of a truck and side of a duplex that he and his wife share on Hunter Place and threatened to light it on fire. Ingram allegedly tried to start the truck on fire using a cigarette lighter, Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Garrett Robbins wrote in arrest warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court. [Read more…]

Man accused of fleeing from police, driving toward three parked officers

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Laphonso R. Porter

Laphonso R. Porter

An Oak Ridge man is accused of fleeing from police on Wednesday night, driving toward three officers parked in Scarboro, wrecking a car, and running on foot before being arrested.

Laphonso R. Porter, 23, remained jailed in the Anderson County Detention Facility on Thursday night. He has been charged with three counts of aggravated assault, two counts of evading arrest, driving on a suspended license, and reckless endangerment, according to arrest warrants. [Read more…]